CUBA SI! YANKEE NO!

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MNN. Jan. 23, 2015. In December 1959 a group of McGill University students were sitting in the university cafeteria. We were admiring Life Magazine cover of Fidel Castro. One of the students, a reporter for the McGill Daily, said, “I’d like to go to Cuba and interview him!”. We all said, “We’ll go with you”.FIDEL

Soon we were driving to Florida. One guy had a relative in Miami. We asked to stay over. When he found out where we were going, he threw us out of the house! We slept in the car on the beach. The next day we caught a cheap flight to Havana.

We stayed at the formerly luxurious Havana Hilton Hotel & Casino which was turned into a student’s residence. It was packed with young people from Central and South America. Just us from Canada. None from the US that we saw.

Every evening Fidel Castro and some of his men would come into the lobby and talk to us. He regaled us with stories of the revolution. Fidel kept his promise to his people that he would educate them and give them the best medical care in the world. He had a profound affect on us. Cubans showed that people can stand up and gain their freedom. They kicked out the corporate mob that ran Cuba and had made everybody into slaves.

Bearded cigar smoking, camo-dressed revolutionaries drove us around in limos. Our friend interviewed and became friends with Fidel.

rebels cubaA few days later began the celebration of the year since the revolutionaries had rolled into Havana, kicking out the crooks and arresting those who wouldn’t obey the anti-banker rules. Many traitors were jailed or dispersed. Some were floating on rafts across the channel to Miami. Huge mansions and luxuries were left behind. They could only take what they wore. We saw a lot of jewelry clad autocrats bumming rides to Miami.

Locals were streaming in from the country-side. Poverty of the people was incredible. We had to wait in long lineups for food like everybody else. Fidel was going to speak soon. The prisoners were let out to sit on top of the walls to listen to him. He spoke for eight hours non-stop.

After a week, another person and I decided to return to the mainland. We took a taxi and waited for hours on the road to the airport. It was hopeless. The single PanAm flight from Venezuela made one stop in Havana, picked up passengers and went on to Miami. After waiting for hours, we finally returned to the hotel to get some help. We were told, “You could end up in Cuba for some time, unless you have connections!”

Our backup plan was to flee with the boat people.

Our backup plan was to catch a ride with the boat people.

 

The McGill Daily reporter said he might be able to help us. Two days later a camo dressed military man picked us up in a huge fancy limousine. He drove us directly through a back road to the airport. The airport was jammed with people trying to get out, ready to pay anything to get a seat on the plane. We were escorted and got on the flight.

Now that relations between the US and Cuba have been normalized, the Cubans in Miami could return and start working in the sugarcane fields or resorts like everybody else. They won’t get back their ill gotten gains they left behind. Everything’s been nationalized and belongs to everybody. We knew in 1959 that the days were numbered for these carpetbaggers who sell out their people.

As Richie Valens reminds us “Para bailar la bamba. Para bailar la bamba. Se necesita una  poca de gracia. ba ba bomba!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSKJQ18ZoIA

MNN Mohawk Nation News kahentinetha2@yahoo.com or more news, books, workshops, to donate and sign up for MNN newsletters, go to www.mohawknationnews.com  More stories at MNN Archives.  Address:  Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L thahoketoteh@hotmail.com for original Mohawk music visit thahoketoteh.ws

obama cigar

 

 

 

 

NO JAIL TIME FOR KAHENTINETHA HORN

NO JAIL TIME FOR KAHENTINETHA HORN

Jan. 26, 2011, by Brenda Norrell.
On January 21, 2011, Kahentinetha Horn pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting police officers and obstructing justice. The charges arose when the publisher and editor of Mohawk Nation News was attacked at the Akwesasne viagra-US border on June 14, 2008 by the Canada Border Services Agents CBSA.
Her lawyer, Phil Schneider, and the crown attorney at Cornwall Court agreed that if she pleaded guilty to the obstruction, the assault charge would be withdrawn. The judge gave her a sentence of an absolute discharge, with no criminal record.
Background: Kahentinetha had a problem that occurred at the border two and a half years ago on June 14, 2008. She drove to the Canada-US checkpoint on Cornwall Island with two Mohawks, a man and a woman. They were pulled over allegedly because the woman passenger had an outstanding arrest warrant.
An hour went by. Around 2:15 pm, “We were surrounded by about a dozen flak jacketed, steel toe booted, leather gloved and well armed special squad”, said Kahentinetha.
The male passenger got out and sat on the nearby bench. The customs officers spoke to her female passenger, who was reluctant to get out. The CBSA pulled her out, pushed her to the ground, handcuffed, subdued and took her away. Kahentinetha said, “I became afraid for my safety. They had no reason to stop me. When they asked me to get out of the car, I became scared after I saw what they did to her’.
The mob of guards swarmed to her side, ordering her to get out without giving a reason. She hesitated.
She told them, “I’ve done nothing wrong, have no outstanding charges, contraband, or reason to be questioned.”
After the treatment of the others who were under her protection, she wondered what they would do to the owner of the car? “I told one customs officer after another, “I refuse to be mistreated like my passengers”. They gave her no guarantees this was not going to happen to her or worse. She had no independent witnesses.
12 large male and 2 female customs officers swarmed around. “I saw big trouble for me if I got out’, said Kahentinetha.
At a signal from a guy taking orders by cell phone, they pounced on her, pulled her out and started twisting her left arm. The pain was so severe she thought they were breaking it. She screamed and tried to pull her arm away. [This is all on the Canada Customs video.]
She began to think they were after her, not her passenger. They obviously knew who she was. They kept calling their superiors and must have been told to take her out and arrest her, no matter what.
The question is why did they need so many large male guards to deal with a 68-year old woman? The had taken a long time to verify her age, address, background and car.
“I’ve been through this before with police officers who have tried to put me in hospital or a morgue. There seems to be a lot of anger towards me”.
They finally dragged her handcuffed behind her back into the customs house where she was out of sight. She was put alone in a cell and roughed up. One of the guards kept tightening the cuffs. He tried to bend her over and push her arm up to stop the blood from circulating into her arms and across her chest. It seemed like they knew what they were doing. “An officer stood in front of me and tried to pull my head down towards her crotch area. I found that very disgusting’. They both kept yelling at her to bend forward. This would have caused the blood to rush into her heart and kill her.
What really scared me was I could feel them trying to pull my pants down as I was being bent over. “At that moment I saw stars, became dizzy, starting panting and having pains in my shoulder and across my chest and back. I almost passed out”, said Kahentinetha. The guards had tasers, which is electric shock that can kill a person. “They thought they could get rid of me without using it”, Kahentinetha believed.
It was at that moment her brother, Taiotekane, a lawyer, and his son Kanatase appeared. Everybody backed off. They went to a room to talk privately. He realized she was having serious physical problems. Her eyes were becoming glazed, her face was flushed and she had a hard time breathing. He demanded she be taken immediately to the hospital.
Mohawk Constable Pyke contacted the emergency team from Hogansburg NY who rushed an ambulance. His sister, a paramedic, began to deal with Kahentinetha. Her quick work saved her life.
Doctors at Cornwall Community Hospital told her she had suffered a heart attack. Before this she never had problems with her heart or health. Her heart was damaged permanently. Since then she had to stop a lot of activities.
Kahentinetha realizes that every indigenous person who crosses the border could be subjected to this treatment. It looks like the CBSA have hired those who have no concern for the lives of travelers who cross the border.
The border guards deliberately misstated the facts. They knew kahentinetha’s true age. Yet they described her as being a “large strong 55 year old woman’, which is untrue. Such disinformation is sent out to keep the public uninformed. Don’t believe anything the CBSA says. Beware!
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/01/mohawk-kahentinetha-horn-resistance.html

 

Mohawks: the Resistance Continues

Mohawks: the Resistance Continues

By Brenda Norrell,Jan. 10, 2011.  Kahentinetha Horn, 71, publisher of Mohawk Nation News, was beaten by Canadian Border Guards on June 14, 2008, at the Akwesasne border crossing. Kahentinetha is now charged with assaulting those officers and obstruction of justice. This week, she faces a court decision on penalties for those charges.

During a radio interview with Kevin Annett on “Hidden from History” on Saturday, Horn described the media boycott of the attack by Canada Border Services Agents CBSA and her history of resistance.

Horn described how Julian Assange of Wikileaks exposed the truth through documents.  She exposed the truth of Canadian government and colonial wrongdoing through her writings and her life.  The imperialists try to eliminate these people.

The media boycotted the attack of Kahentinetha and another Mohawk grandmother who were peacefully crossing the Canada-US border. “They beat up the other woman first.” Kahentinetha  described the stress hold performed on her inside the customs house to induce a heart attack.

The handcuffs behind her back were tightened until there was no circulation.  Then she experienced pain up her arms and across her chest and upper back, which was the start of the heart attack.  Then her head was pushed forward to cause death.  She was close to death when her brother arrived on the scene.  He called an ambulance and saved her life. She has since been in Kahnawake under medical care.

She said at least 300 Mohawks have been assaulted by border guards in recent times.  Many others have not reported the harassment.  One young man was rammed on the St. Lawrence River and was left paralyzed.

She was recently notified of two charges and two Canada wide warrants for her arrest.  She remained homebound for the past two and a half years.  On July 7, 2010 she was driving to the motor vehicle bureau to pay her registration.  The Chateauguay police pulled her over immediately.  “It looked like a setup,” she recalls.  She was arrested.  The officers made arrangements to transport her to “parts unknown.” She was not allowed to call her family.

The patrol car was steaming hot.  She began having heart palpitations, sweating, shortness of breath and choking. She waved her nitrate stick. The officers called an ambulance and was taken to the hospital.

Kahentinetha said she does not have enough money to defend herself against Canada’s charges. She lives on a pension and has to make a difficult choice.  “If I go ahead, I need a lot of money.  If I plead guilty, we could ask for leniency, or something.”

At the time of the 2008 attack Kahentinetha had a large audience international for her articles at Mohawk Nation News. With a background in research, she documented the facts.  After the attack, her website and large list of subscribers was hacked and lost.  She did not have the energy to rebuild.

“I’ve written and posted almost 929 articles,” based on her right to freedom of speech [www.mohawknationnews.com].  “I think Indigenous Peoples are the canary in the mine. We have withstood brutal treatment through the centuries… other people will now be getting the brunt of cruelty we have endured for 500 years”.

As a traditional sovereignist Kahentinetha said she was raised with knowledge of Indigenous inherent rights. Describing her life of resistance, she recalled the 1968 public protest at the Akwesasne border, the same checkpoint where the assault took place 40 years later, in 2008.  After this protest, Kahentinetha, small in physical frame, was charged with beating up 23 Cornwall policemen. “They were a lot bigger than me.” As the names of the supposed victims was read in court, everyone started laughing.  The charges were dropped except for two, which were also eventually dropped.

A film on this incident was made and is available on the internet; “You are on Indian land”;  National Film Board.

Three years earlier, the Civil Rights Movement brought her together with American Indian leaders. She knew the people in the American Indian Movement, Dennis Banks and Russell Means.  She was the only indigenous from Canada to attend the Indian Conference on Poverty in 1965.  “We framed our role in the Movement.”

They decided to support Black people, “Their objectives were different from us”.  Blacks wanted to become equals in mainstream society, with the same access.  “We wanted sovereignty, to stay separate, protect our land, language, elders and children and maintain our culture.”

“We supported the Blacks but told them to honor our right
to speak for ourselves”.

In 1968 after Martin Luther King, Jr., was killed, Rev. Ralph Abernathy was speaking in Washington, including native issues.  The Native Americans wrote a letter to him to remind him of the native position and to respect it.  Kahentinetha and a Mexican American, delivered it.  At that time Kahentinetha was selected to be at the gravesite of President Robert Kennedy.

Kahentinetha points out that “half of North America is the territory of the Haudenosaune and our allies.” The Iroquois Confederacy signed agreements on behalf of about 300 other Indigenous nations.

Kahentinetha spent 20 years raising her five children.  In 1990, she rose once again to defend sacred land.  “The Oka golf club wanted to increase their golf course to 18 holes on our burial grounds and ceremonial site”. She was studying for her master’s degree at the time. “We resisted.” On July 11 1990 The Quebec para-military police came in and started shooting, “One of their policemen was killed.” A 78-day siege began.

After Canada’s Prime Minister Mulroney met with President Bush, Sr., he announced in Parliament that the Canadian army would be sent in.  4,000 troops, tanks, lethal weaponry and snipers surrounded Kahnewake, Kanesatake and Akwesasne.  The Mohawks of Kahnewake shut down the Mercer Bridge, which connects Montreal with south shore communities.

Kahentinetha and two of her children were stuck behind the army’s razor wire.  “We thought they were going to shoot us.”
Mohawk women prevented shooting from both sides. If one shot
had been fired, “our people would have been slaughtered.”  There were choppers flying over and they stopped food from getting in.  The army put three levels of razor wire around them.  “I’ll never forget that, standing there and being put inside razor wire on my own land”.

On Sept 26, they came out.  “We got badly beaten up by Quebec police and Canadian soldiers,” Kahentinetha said. “Apparently I was one of those who were supposed to be taken out by a sniper.”  A soldier stabbed her daughter in the chest.

The first group went to trial for one year. Then the second group, with Kahentinetha, went to trial for another year. Mohawks were fired from their jobs in Ottawa.  It was almost impossible to find work, even as floor cleaners.

“We have a reputation of resistance. It is our right to
resist and defend ourselves,” Kahentinetha said. Later, the Canadian Army put in their training manual that Mohawks are
insurgents.  Mohawks were listed in GlobalRisk with the Taliban as “terrorists”.

Kahentinetha said that women are the foundation of the communities.  The government and media portrays them as sexual objects or street workers. They are not protected. Currently, there are about 600 indigenous girls who have disappeared.  Police refuse to investigate.  She believes they are killed because they have too much information on
the ruling class.  “Maybe when they abuse these girls, they have to kill them.”

Kahentinetha said the abuse at the border is part of the larger
picture.  The government wants to abuse, criminalize and arrest
her people, especially the young men who want to protect the people.

“When will we hear an outcry about this?” she asked.  “They tried to kill me,” she said of the heart attack induced by the Border Guards.  “I had the first pangs of death.  Then I came back.”

She described natural justice and unnatural justice. With
unnatural justice, people are trying to rule the world with killing, cruelty and fear.  She looked into the faces of the lethally trained border guards when they were assaulting her, “There was no empathy.”

Natural justice is the connection between our intuition, which is the natural world, and our intellect.

She pointed out that the police, courts and military are being used against her and her people.  The Border Guards routinely pull the people out of their cars by twisting the arm and trying to dislocate it. Many of these injuries remain for the rest of their lives.

In closing, Kahentinetha told a traditional legend of the two headed serpent.  One head was gold and the other was silver.  The skin was many colors.  One head was peaceful and the other was violent.  The people found the sickly serpent and cured its diseases.  Everyday the serpent got stronger and wanted more. He multiplied, began killing and taking everything from the people. The serpent needed the constant flow of murder and the land was stained with blood. The serpent only wanted those that could be enslaved.

Then, a young boy made a bow with hair of the clan mothers.  The serpent was slain. The boy climbed on top, cut the serpent
open and released all that had been devoured.

Kahentinetha warned, “We have to stay out of this fight.”

Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

 

MNN EDITOR ARRESTED FOR:

 ‘ASSAULTING’ CANADA BORDER COMMANDOS – TRIAL PENDING

MNN Sept. 7, 2010. On July 19, 2010 the police of the town next to the Mohawk community of Kahnawake arrested Kahentinetha Horn, the 70 year old editor of MNN Mohawk Nation News. She was unaware that two cross-Canada warrants for unspecified charges were issued by the Akwesasne Mohawk Police on behalf of the Canada Border Services Agency CBSA.

Kahentinetha was ordered into the back seat of the police car. They made arrangements to transport her out of Quebec to parts unknown to her! She was not allowed to phone her family. The 90 degree F heat wave turned the police car into an oven. The windows were tightly shut.

Kahentinetha started to suffer heart palpitations, shortness of breath and sweats. She banged on the windows, coughing for air, as she waved her nitro emergency heart attack spray at the two officers. Two years previously on June 14, 2008, she had been assaulted by CBSA at Akwesasne near Cornwall Ontario. This caused a trauma induced heart attack. Since then she has not left her home and continues to receive medical care.

Kahentinetha asked the Chateauguay police to call an ambulance immediately. She was taken to nearby Anna Laberge Hospital where she remained for 2 days. The police called the Akwesasne Mohawk Police, who told them to release her and for her to call them from home.

She called the Akwesasne Mohawk Police. Jeff Bova and John Cook refused to tell her the nature of the charges and to go to Akwesasne to find out.

A lawyer made some calls. She apparently was charged with assault and obstruction of the CBSA on June 14, 2008, the day she was assaulted by about a dozen special CBSA commandos. They were wearing flak jackets, leather gloves, steel reinforced boots and various weaponry hung around their waist.

After roughing her up and cuffing her, two commandos applied the “stress hold”. The cuffs on her arms behind her back were tightened to stop blood circulation to her arms and chest.Then her head was pushed forward and downward to cause blood to rush into her heart, which could cause instant death. Her brother’s sudden appearance at the checkpoint saved her life.

The lawyer said they intend to proceed to a trial on the charges and asked for their evidence.

Kahentinetha, MNN Mohawk Nation News

Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com For more news, books, to donate and to sign up for MNN newsletters go towww.mohawknationnews.com Other articles in category “Border”.

Store: Indigenous author – Kahnawake books – Mohawk Warriors Three – Warriors Hand Book – Rebuilding the Iroquois Confederacy.

CANADA ACCIDENTALLY RECOGNIZES MOHAWK SOVEREIGNTY

CANADA ACCIDENTALLY RECOGNIZES MOHAWK SOVEREIGNTY
MNN. Sept. 8, 2009. The colony of Canada has officially recognized our sovereignty on Great Turtle Island and has taken steps to abide by the Two Row Wampum agreement. Canada admits they have no jurisdiction over Indigenous people and territory.On June 14, 2008, two women were peacefully crossing the illegal checkpoint in the middle of Kawenoke Island of Akwesasne. The Canada Border Services Agency CBSA called in 12 burly well-armed colonial goons to viciously attack the two women. One elder almost died of a trauma induced heart attack and the other was severely beaten and held incommunicado.

The two women live in the Mohawk communities of Akwesasne and Kahnawake. They filed formal complaints with the RCMP, OPP, Mohawk Akwesasne Police and the CBSA to investigate. All refused. The women were treated like enemy combatants with no rights. We are being falsely labeled as insurgents, terrorists and global risks. This violates the Geneva Conventions 1949 which set the standards in international law for humanitarian treatment of civilians and the victims of conflict. [See notes at end]

The women are not Canadian citizens as the Mohawk Nation never relinquished our territorial independence. The two women took it to the Federal Court of Canada, FCA T-1309-08, to address the human rights abuses. Canada is supposed to live up to its commitments under international law to respect human rights of all.

The Crown issued orders respecting our sovereignty. On October 23, 2008, Prothonotary Mireille Tabib ordered the two women to pay for Canada’s costs by depositing $19,460.00 with the court plus all subsequent costs. The reason! They live in Akwesasne and Kahnawake and are not residents of Canada. An appeal was filed. On January 29, 2009 Judge Francois Lemieux issued the same order. On Feb. 26, 2009 another case was filed by one of the women, T-288-09. On April 7, 2009, the same order was made because she lives in Kahnawake, making her a non-resident of Canada.

The Two Row Wampum agreement separates the colonists from the true original Indigenous jurisdiction. The Crown must fulfill our request to investigate our complaints against their agents. The CBSA acted outside its territorial jurisdiction when it assaulted the two women and cannot demand security for their costs.

The CBSA can never return to Kawenoke Island, the real name of Cornwall Island, which they abandoned on May 31, 2009. The Mohawks refused to allow these foreigners to carry guns in the middle of our community. The old Customs House sits empty and belongs to the Mohawks. CBSA needs to get their junk out of there. When Alcatraz was abandoned, it returned automatically to the Indigenous people.

The colony of Canada removed the CBSA checkpoint from Kawenoke to the foot of the bridge in the city of Cornwall Ontario. Cornwall is part of the Mohawk North Shore claim. A CBSA supervisor stated to Mohawk elders that the former Kawenoke Customs had to be officially de-designated as a Canada port of entry. The new one sits on Akwesasne land. CBSA has to remove its port-a-potties out of Cornwall to parts unknown, maybe back to England. Phew!

Our territory extends all across this land.In requesting Mohawks to report to them when leaving Kawenoke, which they formerly treated as part of the colony of Canada, they are respecting our sovereignty. They actually have no business asking our people anything. We cannot allow them to interfere with our natural birthright and our right to travel freely about our homeland or entering our communities.

The colonial pirates that are attacking and confiscating our legitimate products on our rivers are also out of their jurisdiction. They have no right whatsoever to interfere with our trade and commerce anywhere. All waterways are our highways long before the coming of foreigners to this land to be freely traversed by us.

These Federal Court of Canada orders recognize that Indigenous people on Onowaregeh retain international sovereignty. The demand for money is meant to discourage us from seeking justice against these brutal carpetbaggers. They are telling us we have to buy justice from them. Canada has no problems to dish out millions to the band and tribal councils to illegitimately sell us out and fraudulently try to settle our land claims. It violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Our political position does not allow them to assault or murder us, prevent freedom of speech or violate our human rights. These organized criminal cartels have no right to extort money from us. Everything they do falls under every kind of genocide known to humankind.

The checkpoint had to be removed. The border had to be removed. What’s next?

To stop the CBSA from coming in, we need to keep our fire going and to erect a building. To help, please contact akwpeoplesfire@bell.net 613-937-1813.

Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News, www.mohawknationnews.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com
Note: Your financial help is needed and appreciated. Please send your donations by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Or go to PayPal on website. Nia:wen thank you very much. Go to MNN “BORDER” and “AKWESASNE” categories for more stories; New MNN Books Available now! Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePressStorehttp://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews; Subscribe to MNN for breaking news updateshttp://.mohawknationnews.com/news/subscription.php; Sign Women Title Holders petition!http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois

Background: Federal Court of Canada File No. T-1309-08, Kahentinetha et al v. The Queen: Order of madam Prothonotary Mireille Tabib, October 23, 2008 that the women give $19,460.00 security for the court costs from the beginning to the end, because they are “ordinarily resident outside of Canada” as they live in Akwesasne and Kahnawake [FC rule 416(10)a];

On Feb. 26, 2009, Statement of Claim filed on the Reckless disregard for the safety and security of Indigenous Women at the Canadian Border, Akwesasne, FCC # T-288-09 between Kahentinetha, of the Kanion’ke:haka, and the Queen, Sec. 48 Federal Court Act. Filed Feb. 26, 2009, on Hon. John Sims, Deputy Attorney General of Canada 613-946-2774 Fax 613-952-6006. [Contact: Marieke Bouchard 613-952-6006; Cynthia Leaver, Regional Assistant 613-952-3653; Shurman Longo Grenier 613-868-9009; Vincent Veilleux 613-952-6006.]

Art. 27, Geneva Conventions: protected persons are entitled to respect for their persons, honor, family rights, religious convictions, manners and customs. They shall be treated humanely especially against violence or threats and insults. Women should especially be protected against indecent assault based on race, religion and political opinions.

poster: katenies